Review: Muse- The Resistance

I’ll begin by saying The Resistance is possibly Muse’s weakest offering to date. Fortunately for my ears, Muse’s least impressive album is still mostly a joy to listen to, and that should speak very highly for the band.

Other than track three, Undisclosed Desires, The Resistance is an album I have no trouble putting in the ole CD player, pressing play, and keeping my hand away from the skip button throughout.

The first single, Uprising, packs the most energy and the most punch of the lot. There are a few particularly nice songs, especially the three-part finale, but nothing here will become your “new favorite.”

Ditching a bit of the rock for a backing provided by orchestra, Muse’s sound evolves nicely in The Resistance. The only downside here is that the softer sound results in less “umph” for the album as a whole. Muse does both melody and rock very well, but I would have preferred a couple more tracks driven by bass, drums and their trademark guitar riffs to even out the sweeping, moody tunes that dominate the album.

Lyrically, this is also the weakest offering from Muse but, for the most part, Matthew Bellamy sings the silliness to pitch-perfect effect. And, honestly, who really listens to Muse for the lyrics anyway? You listen for the sound, and the sound is plenty nice this time around.

I think I was hoping for a bit too much from this fifth studio offering but, this far into their career, it’s nice to see the band trying new things when it would be far easier to simply parody what has worked so well in the past.

With The Resistance, it can’t be denied that Muse still knows how to entertain.